English Grammar By Regularjobalert.com
TENSE
We are all familiar with the concept of time. We know the flow of time is continuous and unending. For our convenience, we have divided it broadly into three periods: The Past, The
Present, The Future.
The past is the period of time that has gone by, The Present is the period of time that is with us now and the future is yet to come. In other word, the period of time before “now” is past, the present is the period of time that is with us “Now” and the period of time after Now is the future.
English verb have only two tenses- the present tense and the past tense . the main verb do, go, take, etc. are used to independently in the form of DO/DOES and did, go/goes and went , takes /takes and took. Etc. to denote actions events or states of the present time and past time.
The Present perfect Tense
The present perfect Tense:
Form
Affirmative: Table-1
|
I/we/ you/ The students /people He/she/Ramesh, etc
|
Have |
read the newspaper. |
|
Has |
Negative:Table-2
|
I/we/ you/ The students /people He/she/Ramesh, etc
|
Have not |
read the newspaper. |
|
has not |
Inerrogative:Table-3
|
Have not |
I/we/ you/ The students /people He/she/Ramesh, etc. |
read the newspaper? |
|
has not |
Use/Example
1.
a) I have polished my shoes. (present result: The shoes are shining.
b) She has written a letter to her mother.
(present result: The shoes are shining.
|
Here in the sentences , the action began in the past and continued for a period of time until it was recently completed or continued up to now, the result of which can be seen at present. By using have/has+ en form of the verb, we talk about a past action which has a present relevance. Here the focus is laid on the present result, not on the time of the completed action. |
Use/Example
2.
a) We have lived in this house for five years.
b) I have waited for the doctor since 4 p.m
|
In the above sentences, for has been used to express a period of time, the beginning of the action is not necessarily and in the second sentence since |
|
The first sentence means we started living in this house five years back and we
The second sentence means I waited for the doctor at a point of time in the past |
|
The first sentence means we started living in this house five years back and we
The second sentence means I waited for the doctor at a point of time in the past |
Use/Example
3.
a) Ranjit has gone to puri .
(Its means: he has left this place for puri. he may be on the way to puri or in puri and has not returned)
b) Rahul has been to Delhi.
(Its means: He is no more in Delhi. he went there and has already returned).
c) I have been in sambalpur since 1990.
d) (Its means: I have stayed in sambalpur since 1990 and I am still here.
Remember:
been to: Visited
Been in : stayed in
Use/Example
4.
a) Soubhagya Mishra has Written a Number of poems in English.
b) Sachi Routray Wrote volumes of poems in odia
|
In the above two sentences show that the present perfect is used for the poets/Writers who are alive and the past simple is used for poets / Writers who are dead. |
Use/Example
5.
a) Master: Where have you been so long, Gopi?
b) Gopi: I have been to the market.
(Now he has just returned)
c) Master: What the matter with the drawing room ?
d) Gopi: I have swept it cleanly already.
|
Here Gopi action has just ended, in returning from the market and sweeping the room. |
Use/Example
6.
a) Thieves have looted the bank.
b) Television has announced the occurrence of a cyclone tomorrow ..
c) Twenty people have died in a train accident .
|
In the above sentences show that the present perfect is usually used in newspaper headlines, in letter, in radio or television reports. |
Use/Example
6.
a) It is the first time that she has been to Delhi.
b) He is the only boy who has answered my question.
c) He is the most intelligent boy I have ever come across.
|
These sentences show that present perfect is used for the expression like for the first time , for the second time , for the last time, etc only and for adjectives in the superlative degree. |
Use/Example
6.
a) The taxi has just arrived .
b) I have never told a lie.
c) He has often cheated me.
d) The postman has not come yet.
e) The bell has rung already.
|
Adverb like just, ever, lately never, recently, already, yet, often, etc usually take the present perfect.
Remember we use generally already in affirmative sentence and yet in negative sentence and negative- interrogative sentence.
|
Use/Example
6.
a) She has written three letter this morning.
b) I have rung him up four times this afternoon.
c) He has not eaten anything today.
|
This |
The present perfect progressive tense:
Form
Affirmative:Table-1
|
I/we/ you/ /people / He/she/Rekha etc
|
Have been |
Waiting for the bus. |
|
Has been |
Negative:Table-2
|
I/we/ you/ The students /people He/she/Rekha, etc
|
Have not been |
Waiting for the bus. |
|
has not been |
Inerrogative:Table-3
|
Have not |
I/we/ you/ The students /people He/she/Ramesh, etc. |
Been waiting for the bus? |
|
has not |
Use/Example
1.
a) It has been raining hard for three hours.
b) He has been waiting for the train since 4 pm.
|
In the sentences the present perfect progressive show that the activity started in the specified past , continued still the present and is likely to extended into the future. |
Use/Example
2.
a) His hand are dirty. He has been working in the garden.
b) There are pools of water in the field. It has been raining for three hours now.
|
We have used the present perfect progressive in the above sentences to show that an activity or an action happening until this moment or a very short time ago. The result of the action has been shown in the first sentence in each example. |